‘Chemically upsized’ watermelons spark fears

May 4, 2015

Jeddah, May 4: Watermelons being sold in Taif by street vendors have caused alarm. There is a widespread fear that the product is genetically modified and chemically nourished to speed up ripening and increase its size.

The fears have been aggravated following the circulation on social networking sites of a video clip, which shows how the watermelons are upsized with the help of unknown chemicals. Farmers are seen using chemicals to speed up the watermelon’s ripening process and increase its size. Consumers now fear the chemicals could cause cancer.

They expressed astonishment over poor supervision and weak control of the departments concerned over farmers and the produce being sold in markets.

Street vendors said they buy the watermelons in wholesale from truck owners coming from Wadi Al-Dawassir and sell them retail. Commenting on nourishment methods, they said they have noticed the increase in size, which makes them wonder and question why this has happened.

“The drivers said farmers add chemicals to the irrigation water to hasten the ripening process and increase size to enable them to sell their product at higher prices,” said vendors, adding that the price of one watermelon might reach as high as SR50.

Speaking to a local publication, Salem Al-Thaqafi, a citizen said: “One farmer from Wadi Al-Dawassir told me that watermelons coming from there and other areas in the Kingdom are genetically modified and chemically fed to increase its size so it can be sold at high prices.”

Saad Al-Thabti agreed with him. “This is the method used in the farming of all agro products,” he said. “Foreign workers make profits regardless of the health of customers. There is a lack of supervision by the authorities which endangers consumers’ health.”

A source at the Ministry of Agriculture, quoted by the local media, said the ministry always follow up on the work of farmers and hold awareness campaigns to warn them on the hazards of chemicals on human health.

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23 Israel-linked terrorists killed, 46 captured by Iran army

News Network

November 15,2024

Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has killed or captured 69 terrorists linked to the Israeli spy agency Mossad during a major counterterrorism drill in the country's southeast, its spokesman says.

General Ahmad Shafaei, the spokesman for the “Martyrs of Security” drill, said Friday that a total of 23 terrorists have been killed and another 46 arrested in various clean-up operations ever since the IRGC Ground Force launched it in the Sistan and Baluchestan province on November 1.

Seven terrorists have also turned themselves in during the period.

“The undeniable fact about terrorists is that they rely on arrogant powers, particularly the intelligence service of the wicked and vicious Zionist regime," Shafaei said.

“Unfortunately, weapons and munitions at terrorists’ disposal are among the most sophisticated ones in the world. This accounts for their heavy dependence.”

The official stated that several members of the disbanded terror teams were non-Iranian nationals, who had been hired by foreign intelligence agencies to carry out acts of sabotage and terror inside Iran.

In a most recent operation, six terrorists were arrested and four others were eliminated, three of whom were non-Iranians, he added.

On October 26, ten members of Iran's law enforcement forces were killed in a terrorist attack in the Gohar Kuh district of Taftan in the Sistan and Baluchestan province.

The so-called Jaish al-Adl terrorist group claimed responsibility for the assault, which was one of the deadliest in the province in recent months.

The group has carried out numerous terrorist attacks in Iran, primarily in Sistan and Baluchestan.

Its tactics include the abduction of border guards as well as targeting civilians and police stations within the province to incite chaos and disorder.

In January, Iran launched a military operation during which the headquarters of the Pakistan-based terrorist group was targeted in missile strikes, destroying its infrastructure.

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